Abstract:

States of Aq-Qoyunlu, Qara-Qoyunlu and Ottoman have a ground intersecting each other not only geographically but also demographically. The said commonality led a struggle to emerge upon population that would found and sustain the state as well as upon geography. The fact that Turkish communities took part in a political formation (organization) from time to time and immediately after, that they went towards the other posed serious problems in almost all areas from taxes to military order (system), and ultimately legitimacy of governments in power had important existence problems. In this context, it is striking that every three states addressed the matter of lineage seriously and that the lineage was used as a kind of material of identity-building in historical sources. In our study, based on primary sources of the period, we will evaluate consideration (addressing) of problems of lineage and legitimacy in states of Aq-Qoyunlu, Qara-Qoyunlu and Ottoman, from Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun. It is thought that this kind of approach will contribute to the issue of understanding socio-cultural competitions and common points of states that emerged during the same period of time and intellectual atmosphere of the period.